Telehealth in Brazil: a special JISfTeH issue

The Journal of the International Society for Telemedicine and eHealth (JISfTeH) turns to Latin America in its latest issue with a focus on the versatile ways that telehealth has been used in Brazil. Nine papers range from distance healthcare education to store-and-forward imaging to building rural telehealth networks. Brazil’s government has supported remote care initiatives with the development and implementation of projects at the national, state and municipal levels. The telehealth model primarily has been connecting universities to primary care in remote cities (of which there are many!) with an emphasis on education and assistance. Topics include the nine-year-old telehealth project in Minas Gerais between Rio de Janiero and Brasilia, and its declining use; distance learning in dentistry; usage in the Amazon region and legislation. Registration required, but the journal is open access.Hat tip to its lead editor, Prof. Maurice Mars of the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

Our definitions

Telehealth and Telecare Aware posts pointers to a broad range of news items. Authors of those items often use terms 'telecare' and telehealth' in inventive and idiosyncratic ways. Telecare Aware's editors can generally live with that variation. However, when we use these terms we usually mean:

• Telecare: from simple personal alarms (AKA pendant/panic/medical/social alarms, PERS, and so on) through to smart homes that focus on alerts for risk including, for example: falls; smoke; changes in daily activity patterns and 'wandering'. Telecare may also be used to confirm that someone is safe and to prompt them to take medication. The alert generates an appropriate response to the situation allowing someone to live more independently and confidently in their own home for longer.

• Telehealth: as in remote vital signs monitoring. Vital signs of patients with long term conditions are measured daily by devices at home and the data sent to a monitoring centre for response by a nurse or doctor if they fall outside predetermined norms. Telehealth has been shown to replace routine trips for check-ups; to speed interventions when health deteriorates, and to reduce stress by educating patients about their condition.

Telecare Aware's editors concentrate on what we perceive to be significant events and technological and other developments in telecare and telehealth. We make no apology for being independent and opinionated or for trying to be interesting rather than comprehensive.